ROGUE WAVES Rogue waves: a wave more than 2x the significant wave height (SWH=the mean of the largest third of waves in a wave record). Rogue waves are unusually high waves for the surrounding seas. 1826 one was reported at 108 ft. (33 meters). The report was ridiculed by some scientists who, at that time believed a wave of more than 30 feet was not possible. Later it was thought (as a result of mathematical proof) a wave higher than 60 feet was impossible. Video 100 ft. wave https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL2XL17z8Fs The Drauper Wave. In 1995, a wave was measured off Norway by an oil rig that was fastened to the sea bottom and was equipped to measure a number of things including wave height, wave slope and acceleration on deck and foundations. In January, a rogue wave hit the platform which was 85 feet high and traveling 45 miles anhour. This was a wave higher than any mathematical model had predicted was possible. Rouge waves form in relatively calm seas. Several waves come together and a large wave forms. The wave appears suddenly and can be more than 70 feet high. These waves are clearly dangerous to almost any ship since ships can be overturned by such huge waves. The general approach is not to take such a wave broadside or hear on, but rather to take the wave at an angle and ride over it Even large ships can be severally damaged or sunk by rogue waves which can also have an impact on off shore drilling wells. TSUNAMI Tsunami: These are caused by displacement – usually undersea earthquakes, landslides, meteor strikes. Tsunami are not like wind driven waves, but are caused by a change in the basin in which the ocean lies. Earthquakes are measured on the Richter Scale or the Mercalli Scale. The Richter Scale measures the amount of energy released whereas the Mercalli measures the amount of damage the earthquake is capable of. Here again scales are scientific artifacts produced with a specific goal in mind. Neither is right or wrong nor in conflict with the other. Tsunami do not look like breaking waves. Rather they look like an extremely high incoming tide. They appear as though someone has been adding more and more water to the ocean and the level keeps rising. Some serious Tsunamis: Santorini (Thera) An enormous volcanic eruption which produced a tsunami Somewhere around 1628 BCE Evidence from Greenland, California tree rings Climate affected – crop failure in Chine, part of Egypt impacted, (information appears on the stele of Ahmose). Some felt that this ended Minoan Civilization but archaeological evidence finds Minoan culture after the eruption. It is possible that the society was so damaged that it became perhaps too weak to defend against a very militant Mycene. There is some speculation that this eruption is the bases of Plato's Atlantis myth. Lisbon 1755 Nov, 1st at 9:40 am. (All Saints Day) Earthquake followed by a tsunami. People reported seeing the tide go out far enough to expose some ship wrecks. Churches where many had fled for protection were destroyed. Many candles which had been lit helped ignite fires all over. Many other cities hit. About 200,000 people in Lisbon. About 30,000 to 40,000 people killed about 10,000 more in Morocco. This event triggered the beginning of the science of seismology in Germany, Led to many theological problems – why did this happen on a High holy day (All Saints Day) destruction of Churches and people looking for refuge in them being killed. Krakatoa or Krakatau August 27 1883. The eruption of Krakatoa was preceded by minor rumblings and ventings. Then on Aug 27 there was the first major eruption which generated a cloud plume 20 miles high and triggered several tsunami. The following day there were 4 major eruptions in a 4 and a 1/2 hour period. The last is credited with being the largest sound recorded on Earth. It was heard in Australia and an island called Rodrigues 3,000 miles away. Villages on Java and Sumatra were destroyed. An estimated 35,000 people died. Chunks of coral weighing 600 tons were found on the shore. Tsunami went nearly around the world with places. Thousands of miles away having large waves. Sunlight in the immediate area was blocked for several days and within weeks people all over the world saw the sun a strange color. This was caused by the dust in the stratosphere. Global temperatures fell for several years as a result of the reduced sunlight from the ash. Krakatoa basically blew itself apart but a new volcano called Anam Krakatoa is forming at the crater of about 5 inches a week. Indonesian Earthquake and Tsunami or Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami Dec, 26, 2004 (9.1 - 9.3 on Richter Scale) The death toll across 14 countries was about 230,000 people. It was the third largest earthquake ever recorded and lasted 8.3 to 10 minutes. Indonesia was the hardest hit, with Sri Lanka, India and Thailand also suffering major losses. In 1960 the Great Chilean Earthquake registered 9.6 and the 1964 Good Friday Prince William Sound Earthquake which registered at 9.2 are the only greater earthquakes recorded. There was great ecological impact both in the ocean itself and along the coastlines. Scientifically there has been the development of a much greater warning system in the Indian Ocean. Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami March 11, 2011 A 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Tohoku (N.E. Japan) resulted in a tsunami the struck Fukushima, Iwate Prefecture. The number of confirmed deaths is 15,891 as of April 10, 2015, according to Japan's National Police Agency. Most people died by drowning. More than 2,500 people are still reported missing. It was estimated that in one part of Iwate Prefecture, the tsunami may have been 127 to 133 feet high. VIDEO TSUNAMI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86ThCibkHQw Sendai (the major city in Fukushima) has an airport near enough to the water that wave washed cars and planes away at the airport. The Japanese, as the only people against whom nuclear weapons of mass destruction have been used (in Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of WWII) have a great deal of concern about nuclear matters and there is a split in the population about nuclear reactors. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant suffered a meltdown and a good deal of radioactive material was washed into the ocean. In Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma, Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, and Niigata prefectures, there were reports that radioactive material was found in tap water. The fishing of some species of fish was also banned because they were found to have radioactive material in them. Nuclear meltdown: The tsunami caused a cooling system failure at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which resulted in a level-7 nuclear meltdown and release of radioactive materials. The electrical power and backup generators were overwhelmed by the tsunami, and the plant lost its cooling capabilities. In July 2013, TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, admitted that about 300 tons of radioactive water continues to leak from the plant every day into the Pacific Ocean. LITUYA BAY ALASKA (1958) Lituya Bay megatsunami occurred in Lituya Bay Alaska in 1958. It was a 7.8 earthquake which caused a landslide dumping 40 million cubic yards, and about 90 million tons) to fall from several hundred meres into the narrow inlet of Lituya Bay, Alaska. This displacement of water by the slide caused a wave to form which measured 1710 feet at the inlet to the bay (Empire State Building 1,250′, 1,454′ to tip). TIDAL WAVES Tidal waves are not tsunamis. A tidal wave is a wave that forms when the tide comes in and forms a wave. Sometimes they will form in a river as the tide pushes its way inland. These are sometimes called “tidal bores” These can be dangerous to people because in narrow beaches with high hills or cliffs, a person or an animal might not be able to escape in incoming tide. Bay of Fundy Tidal Bore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDNg101oLkE In Cuxhaven in Germany, the shore is almost horizontal, so the tide comes in suddenly and with great speed. Watt in Cuxhaven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTpzaZa9vhs UNDERSEA WAVE Undersea waves These are waves which occur underwater as a result of two layers of water of different densities moving against each other the way that air and water do on the surface. These waves can be dangerous to submarines Undersea or underwater waves are caused, like wind driven waves, by 2 fluids of different densities moving against one another at different speeds. With undersea waves however, the 2 fluids are both water, but in this case the water is of 2 different densities. So a level of water of one density, moving against a level of water with a different density can (and will) produce a wave, but in the case it is underwater. In general this is not a problem for people since most are not under water. However it has been the case that submarines have been affected by these. Submarines are rated for specific water pressures, and if they go deep enough to exceed that pressure they can implode. Whirlpools In addition, the changing of the tides can create another hazard known as a “whirlpool”. These are created when the water from two opposing currents meet and form a vortex.